Chapter 68. Back At School

I still had some time before curfew, and after saying my greetings to Abarrane, Val and I decided to greet our other close friend Gaynor. I stealthily made my way to the entrance of the chamber, and calmly made my way down the spiral stairs towards the bottom. The tapping of my shoes against the wet stone echoed through the pipes as I made my way to the Chamber. ‘Strange that I’m coming back with sight this time…’ I thought, as a small sting of guilt at removing Hermione’s memories struck my gut.

Opening up the chamber, I let the language of snakes flow eloquently from my lips, and form the sudden words appearing in my mouth. The massive steel door opened, the hinges squeaking and creaking under the strain. “Merlin’s-” I stuttered just letting my eyes take in the new image before me. The dark bridge, and rivers connecting under the stonework had all been covered in Gaynor’s webbing.

The entire room had turned into Gaynor’s new nest, and she had made herself home. “Gaynor?” I called out while descending downwards to the silk covered bridge. “Woah! Everything is soft and silky!” Val yelled, slithering around the bedding, bouncing under its spongy consistency. I then heard chittering from the large mound of webbing in the center of the room on the other end of the bridge, the last remnants of the poor Basilisk. “Lucas…?”

I watched in shock, as I turned around to see legs that dwarfed Gaynor’s previous size. I could see that she had grown from 5 feet in diameter, to easily 8 feet if not more. “Gaynor! You got bigger than Lucas and me combined!” Val yelled, slithering up my leg to have me walk for him, as slithering on webbing was close to impossible. “Gaynor… goodness you’ve grown.” I said with a slight stutter of amazement, when I moved closer, I could see Gaynor’s legs quaking as she awoke. She lazily reached out her farthest leg to me, and I grasped it, so she could see me. Still blind, Gaynor could only ‘see’ through touch, or vibrations of her webbing.

However, to my shock, she suddenly grasped my body, using more of her legs to capture me, and bring me closer. “Ah- Hey! Wait!” I yelled, but it was of no avail, Gaynor was still half asleep, only relying on her body’s instincts as her mind continued to sleep. She entangled me with her myriad of legs, and brought me in against her body, hugging me tightly like a child with a favorite toy, her pedipalps chittering as she dozed off again. “Hahaha! She is still the same, always hugging something when she sleeps!” Val laughed, recalling how Gaynor slept best while hugging something, her favorite was me of course.

I sighed while silently studying her body for any other changes. Granted, it was still dark in the Chamber, but she really seemed the exact same as I had last seen her, larger body aside. In fact by this point, I truly did seem like nothing more than a toy to her large size. ‘It’s good to know that she was fine down here.’ I thought, glancing at the Basilisk behind us, a quarter of its body devoured already. I smiled, knowing Gaynor had grown from being so well fed. It made me happy to know she wasn’t going hungry while I was away. The ground beneath me was covered in webbing, allowing for a much more comfortable bedding than I initially thought, and with Gaynor’s tight hold on my robes, I felt it would be easiest to just sleep here for the night.

“Lucas! You weren’t a dream!” I awoke to being squeezed, Gaynor feeling around my entire body with her legs to inspect me. “Good Morning, Gaynor.” I said with a stifled chuckle, her legs tickling me as she poked and prodded. Her pedipalps chittered for a moment before she began laughing in excitement for my return. “Lucas is back! Lucas is back!” “I’m here too!” Val hissed as he came from under my robes, awoken by the loud yelling. Gaynor and Val began speaking with one another the best they could given the language barrier, and once they were done, I left the Chamber to go and get dressed in my spare robes in my room.

“You met with Gaynor? You disappeared last night.” Pansy said as I sat down beside her. I nodded with a bit of confusion. “How did you know?” Pansy smirked while pulling a thin web of white thread from my hair, flicking it on the ground without a word. I felt my face heat up in embarrassment, weakly chuckling to remove my shame. “She was a bit excited to see Val and I again.” Pansy giggled at me while food appeared before me. “What electives did you take?” I asked, trying to move the conversation along.

Suddenly, Draco appeared on the other side of the table, taking his seat as he answered. “I’m taking ‘Care of Magical Creatures’. If that moronic giant is teaching it, I’ll have a free pass.” I blinked a few times in confusion. “Huh? That was an elective?” I asked, tilting my head. “Of course, don’t tell me you thought it was mandatory!” Draco laughed covering his mouth to not showcase his food. “I suppose even you can make mistakes.” He waved with a few more chortles. I looked towards Pansy, equally as confused at me for making such a mistake. I glanced towards the large teacher’s table, the head spot empty at the moment. I scoffed, realizing what was done. “I suppose mistakes happen to everyone.” I muttered, shifting myself closer to Pansy.

Pansy, seemingly realizing the same as me after glancing at my eyeline, giggled under her breath before speaking. “If you thought it was mandatory, then what other elective did you take?” I shrugged, seeing as there was only one other elective I could take on my registry. ‘There was ‘muggle studies’, but that was impossible.’ I frowned momentarily, before focusing on the elective I chose. “I took Study of Ancient Runes.” Draco groaned while Pansy winced. “It’s early enough for you to be taken out, I heard that almost nobody passes, let alone remains awake during lessons.” Draco whispered in condolence.

I rolled my eyes and sighed. “Yes, I’m aware of the difficulty, the name for the class alone glazes one’s eyes.” “Then why take it?” Pansy asked immediately after, making me think back to the library, Draco and Pansy both waiting in anticipation. “Most texts and documents related to Merlin are in ancient Runes, and other similar scripts.” Draco nodded knowingly while getting more food onto his plate. “I understand, you are interested in Merlin. Goodluck to you.” He waved sarcastically, as if saying goodbye to a dying man on a mission. Pansy and I chuckled, both knowing that he wasn’t wrong. “Aside from Care of Magical Creatures as well, I’m taking Divination.”

Both Draco and I looked at her in surprise. “I didn’t take you for someone believing in that sort of thing.” Draco said, me nodding along. Pansy shook her head and shrugged. “What person doesn’t want to know their future?” She asked, smirking at the both of us. Draco nodded in understanding, as did I. Seers were real people that had real visions that proved to be correct from time to time. “I’ll meet you at Care of Magical Creatures today?” I asked as the large bell tower began to ring. Draco scoffed with a nod. “If you don’t sleep through your class first.”

After potions class, discussing how to make antidotes for common and uncommon poisons, I headed to my Ancient Runes class. Pansy was in a different class, and Draco now had a free period, so I walked alone. Entering inside, I noticed that most seats in the large classroom were empty. Only Ravenclaw students were here, and few of them at that. ‘I guess even studious students avoid this place like the plague…’ I sighed while taking a spot at the back of the class. Highest and farthest away from anyone to bother me.

“Lucas?” A voice called out to me, and I turned in shock to see the one person I didn’t want to find here. Her crazy brown frilled hair bounced with each step as she came closer to my desk. “What are you doing here?” I asked with a sigh, not hiding my disdain for her being here, or talking to me. She stopped at the desk beside me, and let out ‘humph’. “That should be my question. Shouldn’t you be with your possy?” She bit back, taking the seat after placing her books down on the desk beside mine, leaving me to wonder what gave her the indication we should sit together. ‘I can’t be seen close to her. Luckily most others in this place seem to not be the rumor spreading kind, but I can’t be too cautious.’

I pondered on whether or not to get up and change seats, but the bell rang, bringing in the teacher with it. ‘Looks like that train has already left the station.’ I sighed again, not knowing what to do about this girl. I glanced at her with a frown, she returned with a smarmy smirk, seemingly happy with winning our verbal exchange. “She is mean, but nice. Like you!” Val whispered in my ear, making me click my tongue while forcing him back down my robes to avoid talking about it. I didn’t want to be close with her.